Kindergarten Detective
by dancingirl87
Summary: A series of one-shots in an alternate universe, where all our favourites attend the same elementary school. Best Friends AU. Olicity.
1. Kindergarten - Part One

He's dangling from the monkey bars when he sees it happen. At first he's sure he's mistaken. They had, after all, just learned about kindness and how to play nice with others. Just on Monday, Mrs. Hawthorne had told them all, gathered tightly together on the brightly coloured carpet, that there was absolutely no reason to be unkind. That each and every one of them was important and special in their own way. That in their classroom they are Bucket Fillers, not Bucket Dippers, filling each other's buckets with kind words and actions.

Oliver's not sure what exactly is so special about himself, but days later the words are stuck in his brain like sticky glue, along with the image of blonde curly pigtails hovering over a keyboard.

He squints into the distance, trying to make out the figures on the grass, but the sun's shining warmly on his face and he can't quite make out what's going on. Whatever it is, he's not the only one to notice. Tommy's hanging upside down beside him and reaches over and pushes him impatiently, causing Oliver to swing back and forth.

"Did you see that?" Tommy cries indignantly, heaving himself up to grab the bars with his hands. "I think he pushed her! That is _not_ okay!" He drops to the sand with a thud and takes off before Oliver can even let go.

Oliver lands softly in the sand below and follows Tommy into the field. When he gets there, Tommy's bent over a small figure on the grass. She's holding her knee, tears running down her cheeks. There's a big grass stain on her other knee along with a growing bruise.

"Are you okay?" Tommy asks, kneeling on the ground beside her. "Did you get hurt? Do you need a Band-Aid?" He moves her hands off her injury so he can take a closer look. She watches him carefully, wiping her face impatiently. Like she's embarrassed for crying or looking weak.

Oliver stands back, because Tommy is much better at this than he is. And Laurel Lance doesn't really like him anyways. Not since she was working on one of those really tricky hundred piece puzzles and Oliver had bumped into the table and messed it all up.

Laurel sniffles and shakes her head. "I'm- I'm okay, I think. My knee, it hurts though."

Tommy opens his mouth to respond, but stepping forward, Oliver blurts out, "Did somebody push you?"

Laurel cooly looks up at him and purses her lips. "Yes. He is so nasty. And he has nothing nice to say at all, he just- he-" and then her eyes are filling with tears again and Oliver stumbles back a step because apparently it's not just the pushing that's the problem.

Tommy is hovering and shushing Laurel, checking her over and helping her up, and as he watches, he thinks that maybe his friend actually likes Laurel. _Likes her_ , likes her.

Which is just, you know, gross.

Girls are gross.

But still. They shouldn't be pushed down. And nobody should be saying mean things that make people cry. And as Oliver turns in a circle, surveying the playground, he swears he sees Slade Wilson, the new kid in their class, watching them with a slick smile on his face. Like he's happy Laurel is in tears.

Not okay.

Oliver's pretty sure that Slade is up to no good. Oliver's tried to make friends with him, because he's new and he talks differently than everyone else and he doesn't seem to have any other friends, but Slade has been nasty at every attempt. Oliver had given up and had asked his dad for advice in this tricky situation.

Robert Queen spent most of his time in the mahogany lined office that lay off the front entranceway of the Queen mansion. Oliver had knocked, because you always knocked while his dad was working. Barging in and interrupting what could be a major breakthrough was never acceptable, but this time he was waved in with a smile. Oliver clambered into the comfy chair across from his father's desk, the brown leather cool against his legs.

"Oliver. How was school today?" His dad had a booming kind of voice, one that was meant to be heard, but with Oliver it always took a softer tone. "What did you learn about?"

Oliver thought for a minute. What had he learned? "Well, I learned that if you want to make friends with Slade Wilson that you shouldn't invite him to play with your superheroes."

His dad hummed and leaned forward, his eyes on Oliver. "And why is that?"

"Well," Oliver said, drawing out the word as long as he could. "I've been trying to make friends with him for _ever_ and today I tried to play superheroes with him and he pretended like he wanted to play, but then he took the Batman and ripped one of his arms off."

Oliver looked at his hands, folded in his lap. He rubbed his thumb and pointer finger together, lashes down. To him, this inability to make a friend seemed like a failure. The Queen family always did their best to make everyone feel welcome. It had been drilled into him for as long as he could remember.

"Well, son, it seems as though this is something you can't force." Oliver looked up at his dad's words, unsure about what he meant. His father smiled softly at him as he spoke. "Some people don't want new friends. Some people are happier alone. And some people just need time to adjust to a new situation before they're able to feel comfortable enough to let somebody new in. It sounds like your classmate is dealing with a big change in his life and maybe he just needs some space to get used to his new environment."

Oliver had nodded, mulling over his dad's words. His dad was always right, he was the smartest person Oliver even knew, so he had taken his advice and retreated, thinking that maybe Slade just needed some time to adjust to his new school and all the new people.

But now, months later, he's pretty sure that Mrs. Hawthorne's talk on Monday about kindness had been meant for Slade and after this recess there's no way Oliver is going to let him push around any more kids on the playground.

This is his school, his playground. Not some new kid's boxing ring.

Oliver narrows his eyes at Slade, sending mental daggers in his direction. Slade's eyes meet his, staring darkly and Oliver can't help but shiver. There is nothing good in the other boy. Somehow Oliver can sense it.

But then Slade's looking away, eyes moving from Oliver, Laurel, and Tommy and over to the sandbox, where two girls giggle as they dump sand on each other's legs. There is a decidedly different look there - like a hungry tiger watching it's dinner.

Instinctively Oliver takes a step towards the sandbox, an unfamiliar swooping feeling beating in his chest, but then the bell rings and the girls leap up. They brush sand off themselves and skip towards the doors, arms linked, blonde and brown ponytails swinging side by side. He watches them pass right in front of Slade, who's just leaning against the red brick walls, one foot propped behind him, arms crossed over his chest. Slade's eyes follow the girls until they're inside.

More and more kids pass in front of Slade as Tommy and Laurel are forgotten and Oliver tries to get to Slade, to tell him that he better stay away from those two girls in the sandbox, that they are absolutely off limits. He feels it so strongly, like nothing he's ever felt before. If Slade Wilson even lays a finger on Felicity Smoak's ponytail, Oliver's pretty confident he's going to lose that finger.

When he gets to where he last saw Slade he's gone, and Oliver is left with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he heads inside with the rest of the crowd.

Inside the classroom is chaos, just like after every other recess. Mrs. Hawthorne helps Laurel bandage her knee in the corner by her desk, while Tommy supervises. Oliver sits by his hook to change into his inside shoes and when he stands up a large hand shoves him in the back and he goes face first into the wall.

"You better watch out, Kid."

There's no mistaking that voice. He can feel Slade's presence hovering behind him, a threatening presence that causes Oliver to freeze. He's never had to deal with a bully before and while he might have felt brave staring him down across the playground, the larger boy standing right behind him is a different story. Oliver curls his fingers around the straps of his backpack and takes a deep breath. His heart beats fast in his chest. Their hook area is pretty secluded, behind a row of shelving, so he knows their teacher can't see what's happening. His mind races, trying to think of the best solution.

"Hey! You leave him alone!"

The tiny voice comes from behind him and Oliver knows in an instant who it belongs to. He closes his eyes for a moment. His heart seems to jump in his chest. He feels Slade take a step away from breathing down his neck and Oliver turns as well.

Felicity Smoak stands in front of Slade, her tiny hands balled into fists, staring him down like she isn't a whole head smaller than he is and he couldn't just swipe out his hand and knock her out of the way. There's a whole lot of anger in her face and Oliver takes a deep breath, a warmth enveloping his chest at this girl coming to his defence.

Felicity doesn't pay him any attention, really. She evenly meets Slade's gaze and Oliver watches as her eyes narrow in anger. She's not scared of him at all.

Slade chuckles and the sound gives Oliver the creeps. "And why should I do that?" he asks. He takes a step forward, towering over top of her. Oliver is frozen, unsure of what his next move should be.

Felicity opens her mouth to retort but the wind chimes ring, the signal for everyone to meet Mrs. Hawthorne at the carpet.

"Saved by the bell," Slade says in a low voice, "Felicity."

Oliver sees a shiver run through Felicity's body and he can't help but mirror it. There's something in the way Slade says her name that is just wrong.

Felicity doesn't back down though, and Slade slinks around her, giving her one last dirty look over his shoulder as he walks away. Her eyes follow him until he's gone and then they snap back to meet Oliver's gaze.

Her eyes are very blue, but different than his own. She swallows hard and bites her bottom lip. He presses his lips together, offers her a small smile. They stand and stare at each other, eyes connected by some invisible magic, until Felicity blinks and looks away.

"Thanks," Oliver says quietly. "For saying something."

She gives him a tiny smile. "You're welcome. There's something about that guy that I just don't like. I don't know what it is, but I tried to be his friend when he came, because I try to be everyone's friend, but he has some mean things to say and he uses some _rude_ words!"

Her voice had been tremulous at first but has strengthened as she rambles. Her blue eyes open wide in shock at the thought of someone using such rude words. "They're words that my mom _definitely_ doesn't like because sometimes I hear them on TV and one time I asked her what the word bitch meant and she turned this funny purple colour so I'm pretty sure it's a bad word. I would have looked it up on the computer, 'cause I'm good at things like that, but I don't want my mom to-"

Mrs. Hawthorne interrupts her lengthy response by calling them both to the carpet. Felicity abruptly stops talking and her cheeks turn a little bit pink. Oliver's not sure he followed Felicity's rambling train of thought, but he feels this warm sensation in his chest as he smiles at her, his dark thoughts banished for now by her cheery voice. He grabs her hand, without thinking anything of it, and tugs her to follow him to join the rest of the class.

And if Slade eyes them both when they sit together, and if Oliver moves closer to Felicity in warning, well, it's all apart of the job.

He didn't see it coming, but Oliver's pretty sure he's just become the unofficial Kindergarten Detective. And the most important part of this job is now Operation: Protect Felicity Smoak.


	2. Kindergarten - Part Two

Thank you for all the wonderful feedback! Here's a second part that takes place around the same time. There will be other stories in this 'universe' but since I can't create a series here on , they'll be posted separately. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss Oliver and Felicity's other adventures.

* * *

Felicity is pretty smart.

Actually she's really smart. Like, for real, really smart.

She's only five and she knows how to read chapter books. That's pretty darn important. And she's teaching herself how to take apart the old computer her mom brought home from work last month. She's pretty close to finished, too. Her mom has no idea where Felicity learned these things, but Felicity swears on her most prized possession - her stuffed dog Bruno - that it all just comes to her, the computers just make sense in her head in a way nothing else does.

So anyways. She knows stuff. She's a smart cookie.

Which is why this whole Slade Wilson business has been bothering her since it started. it just doesn't make sense.

If he bothered everyone equally, she'd get it. Then he'd just be a bully. Which is a bad thing to be, especially when you're only five, but Felicity mostly understands about bullies.

But Slade doesn't spread his bully-ness around equally. Sure, he makes snarky comments to lots of kids in their class. He does it pretty quietly so she doesn't think Mrs. Hawthorne realizes. The other kids seem to brush it off and continue with their lives.

However, Slade seems to have a special little place for Oliver Queen. And not the good kind of special place, like Felicity's super secret reading spot. He goes out of his way to do things that he knows will hurt or bother Oliver.

Like, she knows that Oliver really cares about his friends Laurel and Tommy. They've known each other since they were babies and their parents are all friends too. She knows that Slade knows that too, so he goes out of his way to needle Laurel until she's upset. He bothers Tommy until Tommy snaps at him and gets into trouble for shouting in class.

Slade never seems to do anything in particular to Oliver, but she can tell that Oliver is bothered anyways. He always has this sad look in his eyes now, one that Felicity really wants to help him get rid of, but she's much better at fixing computers than she is people so she keeps her distance.

Until one day, Slade seems to think that if he goes after her, Oliver will get just as upset.

She doesn't know where he got that idea. Oliver is her friend, sure, but everyone is friends in kindergarten, and it's not like they play together every day or anything. They sometimes sit at the same table at lunch, but really, there's only so many tables to choose from in their classroom. Felicity is not someone Oliver will get upset about, and that's definitely okay because she doesn't want to be another reason Oliver gets sad eyes.

Felicity is on her own, as usual, nestled amongst the comfy pillows and under the big hanging leaf that signifies the reading corner. She's reading a new Nancy Drew chapter book - although she guesses she can't really count it as new, since they were published in the 1930's, but it's new to her, and she thinks that Nancy is pretty awesome. She solves all her own mysteries and she's basically a kid, just like Felicity. Felicity thinks maybe she'll grow up to be a Nancy Drew detective one day, only with more computers to help her, instead of the silly friends Nancy keeps around.

She's totally engrossed in the story when a body flops down beside her. She can see out of the corner of her eye that it's Slade and so she doesn't acknowledge him, keeping her focus on the book in her hands.

He's still for a few moments and she mentally crosses her fingers that what all the teachers told her was true: if you ignore bullies, they'll get bored and move on. But then he's wiggling his body even closer, his shoulder touching hers and it makes her feel icky and uncomfortable, so she wiggles away.

"What are you reading?" His voice is low and he's leaning close to her, closer than she'd like.

Felicity leans away, giving him an unimpressed look over the top of the book. "Nancy Drew. Can you please move over, you're too close to me," she adds, never one to back down from a fight.

Slade ignores her and smirks, making Felicity wrinkle her nose. "Felicity," he says, drawing out the syllables of her name in a way she doesn't really like. Sometimes Oliver does that, but when he does it, it sounds so nice and warm, like a fuzzy blanket. When Slade does it, it's like the scritch-scratch of nails on a chalkboard. "Nancy Drew, hm? That's funny. Doesn't Nancy live with her dad?"

Not sure where he's going with that random comment, she just nods. There's nothing wrong with what he's said, but Felicity knows that there's something else coming. Across the classroom she can see Oliver and Tommy, both bent over the tower they're constructed from the big wooden blocks. Slade follows her eyes, then snorts under his breath, shaking his head. Felicity snaps her eyes back to focus on Slade, giving him her best 'you aren't bothering me at all' look.

He leans closer, like he's going to tell her a secret. Felicity freezes. "Do you ever wonder why your dad didn't want to stick around and do his job?" Slade asks, his whisper sneaking past her stern exterior and into the cracks of her heart. "Was it something you did, something he didn't want to deal with for the next eighteen years?"

Felicity stares at her classmate. He looks at her like he's just asked her if it's sunny outside. She can feel the tears building up in her eyes and he just evenly meets her gaze as though he hasn't just said the one thing that can make Felicity cry in an instant.

Slade opens his mouth to say probably another nasty thing about her family, but Felicity leaps to her feet, tears spilling onto her cheeks as she takes off for somewhere that is nowhere near Slade Wilson, leaving her book behind. She's not really paying attention to where she's going and doesn't stop until she hears a loud "Hey!"

She's run right through the block centre, knocking down the tower that Oliver and Tommy had been working so hard to build.

"Watch where you're going, Felicity!" Tommy shouts, drawing all the fallen pieces close to him, as though someone else is going to sneak up and snatch them away. "We worked so hard on that for _ever_."

Felicity looks at the ground and mumbles an apology. She knows Oliver is looking at her. He seems to be weirdly in tune with what she's feeling. He always seems to know when she's upset or angry. She quickly turns away because she does not want to tell Oliver Queen and his perfect family about her own messed up problems and how Slade Wilson can make her so upset with only a few words.

"Hey, Felicity. Wait!" Oliver is following her, and eventually there's nowhere to go. Their classroom is only so big. Felicity turns around, presses her back against the wall, and slides down until she's sitting. She draws her knees to her chest and wraps her arms around her legs. She can still see Slade watching her from across the room; he's turning her Nancy Drew book over and over in his hands. Turning her eyes to the side she lays her cheek on her knee, letting out a sigh.

Oliver slides down beside her, careful not to get too close. Somehow he knows to do that. He looks concerned, which makes sense because she's definitely crying.

"Felicity, are you okay? What happened?" His voice is soft and even though she's a tough girl she wishes she could snuggle in closer. Oliver looks like he'd be snuggly. Like a big teddy bear. "Did Slade say something to you?"

She squeezes her eyes shut for a moment, takes a shaky breath, and then meets Oliver's gaze. "Yeah, he just- well…" For as kind as he's been to her, Felicity doesn't really know Oliver that well, so she doesn't really want to get into her really, super personal thoughts and feelings just yet. "He's just not very nice, Oliver. I've tried to be friendly, to include him in stuff and it doesn't help anything."

Her tears have stopped but she wipes a hand over her cheeks. Oliver watches her, that sad look that she really really doesn't like in his eyes.

"I think it's my fault," he says quietly, after a minute. "I'm sorry."

"Oliver, how can it be your fault?" she asks, lifting her head from her knees to stare at him incredulously. "He's mean, he probably doesn't like that he had to move across the planet to go to school at Starling Elementary, that's it."

Oliver shakes his head. "No, it's more than that," he insists. "He doesn't like me. I don't know what it is, but I look at him and I can tell. It's something in his eyes. And he knows that I, uh, that you're my friend, and now he's going to try and make me mad by making you sad." He meets her eyes and looks so sure of himself that Felicity can't help but believe him.

"I don't like it when you cry," he adds quietly, looking down at his hands.

Felicity feels a fluttering in her tummy and her heart gives an extra little thump at Oliver's quiet admission. She reaches out and covers his hand with hers, giving his fingers a little squeeze.

Boys are gross, but Oliver looks like he could use some cheering up too. "Well, Oliver Queen, I don't really like crying either," she informs him, wiping her eyes one more time. "Let's do something that is much more fun than sitting in the corner feeling sad."

"Do you want to help Tommy and I rebuild our tower?" he asks, not letting go of her hand. "I don't really need the help, but Tommy is not the greatest tower builder." He whispers the last part like it's a secret and Felicity giggles, looking over at where Tommy is pouting over a small pile of blocks.

She nods and Oliver scrambles to his feet, pulling Felicity along with him and leading her over to the blocks.

Later, when she's in the bath, her mom sits on the floor beside the tub as Felicity piles bubbles on her chin like an old man. She tells her mom all about her day. Her mom looks pretty upset when she repeats what Slade said to her, but she gets a soft look in her eyes when Felicity tells her about Oliver's kind words and how he helped to cheer her up. She's not sure what her mom is thinking, but Donna Smoak won't say a word, even when Felicity badgers her until bedtime.

"Don't worry, baby girl. You are so smart, and beautiful, and kind. Oliver Queen sees that in you and soon this Slade nonsense will stop because he'll see the same thing. If he doesn't he definitely isn't worth your time or your tears." Her mom presses a kiss to her forehead, tucks the comforter tightly around Felicity and turns out the light. "I love you. Sleep tight."

"I love you too. Night mom," Felicity says, the last word coming out as a yawn.

Her mom shuts the door halfway, the way Felicity likes it, and she snuggles down into bed, closing her eyes. Bruno is tucked under her arm, her pillow smells like comforting lavender, and her mom's perfume lingers in the air - everything is in it's place.

The last thing she sees before slumber takes her is a pair of blue eyes smiling at her.


	3. For Whatever We Lose - Part One

Thank you for the lovely response to the first two parts. This one takes place further into the future of this alternate universe. I've chosen to keep all these pieces in the same story for the moment. Hopefully it doesn't get too confusing. Enjoy!

* * *

It's a regular, normal, average day in May. The sun is shining and it's Friday, which makes Oliver wish he was outside instead of writing a stupid math test. The weekend is so close that Oliver can almost taste it. And he's got big plans for this weekend. He and Tommy are having a sleepover, as usual, but Tommy has just gotten the newest Playstation, along with all the new games, and Oliver can't wait to break it in in the Merlyn's awesome theatre room.

"Ten minutes left, everyone. Make sure you're finishing up and checking your answers," Ms. Rowan announces as she roams around the room, making sure they're all keeping their eyes on their own papers.

Oliver looks down at his test and curses himself at all the blank answers he has left. He's not nearly done and he knows if he brings home another bad mark his dad is going to be angry, again. Robert Queen has big dreams for Oliver and they apparently all require him to be a brainiac like Felicity.

Speaking of Felicity, out of the corner of his eye he can just see her desk. In September, Ms. Rowan quickly moved them apart after discovering Felicity's tendency to talk and talk and talk to Oliver whenever she could, rather than paying attention in class. Somehow only Oliver's had grades suffered. Felicity seems to get good grades no matter what.

Even now, Oliver's pretty sure she's probably been done her test for awhile, considering the amount of doodles on the back of her paper. Felicity gets harder math work than everybody else in their third grade class, and as she is constantly telling Oliver she reads at an eighth grade level, but she also gets the best grades.

Further across the room, Tommy scowls down at his own test. He's obviously not done and he looks pretty grumpy about that fact. Tommy hates math. The only thing he hates more is when he loses a video game to Oliver. And Tommy really hates losing.

"Five minutes."

Ms. Rowan interrupts Oliver's rambling train of thought and he gives his head a shake, looking at the questions on his test that still need answers. Multiplication. Oliver's nemesis.

He manages to figure out a few more problems and then Ms. Rowan's calling out to put their pencils down and Felicity is waving her hand in the air, asking to collect everyone's work.

She bops her way around the room until she has an armful of papers. When she reaches Oliver's desk, he adds his to the top of his pile. It's basically right under her nose, so he knows she sees the blanks he's left and looks down, avoiding her eyes. Sometimes it's hard having a friend who is so effortlessly brilliant. Even though he knows Felicity would help him with multiplication if he asked, he doesn't want her to think he's dumb.

She doesn't say anything, just sighs and moves away, handing off the papers to the teacher and returning to her desk. Oliver catches sight of the clock and feels a burst of excitement chase away his glum post-math-test mood. There's only twenty minutes until the end of the day, and then they're free for two whole days! Thank goodness.

Ms. Rowan looks at the clock too and decides that there's no point in trying to teach a bunch of restless third graders anything new twenty minutes before the weekend, and gives them free time for the rest of the day.

Oliver and Tommy beeline for the games shelf. There are only a few good games in there and they always seem to get stuck with Monopoly, which is missing a billion pieces and Oliver hates anyways.

Tommy elbows Adam Donner out of the way and grabs Sorry! off the shelf. Adam gives Tommy a dirty look and chooses a sad looking deck of cards for himself instead.

"Score!" Oliver crows, punching a fist into the air. He loves bumping Tommy back to the start because he gets super grumpy every time. "Come on, let's play at my desk!"

A few minutes later, in an astonishing turn of events, Tommy has just sent Oliver's game piece back to the start _again_ , when the PA above the door crackles to life.

"Tommy Merlyn, to the office. Tommy Merlyn, please come to the office immediately." The secretary's scratchy voice is drowned out by a chorus of "oohs" from their classmates.

Tommy rolls his eyes and pushes to his feet. "Hey, Smoak! Come finish this game for me." Felicity's head pops up over the top of her book, blue eyes wide, a startled look on her face. Oliver's pretty sure she has no idea what Tommy's talking about, but he pats her gently on the shoulder as he leaves and she watches him go, then turns to look at Oliver expectantly.

"Tommy had to go to the office," Oliver fills in. "He wants you to play for him until he gets back."

Understanding dawns and she carefully marks her page before joining Oliver at his desk.

"You're lucky, Tommy was winning, so now you're winning," Oliver tells her, rolling the dice. "But I'm pretty awesome at this game. Tommy just had a couple lucky turns, so I wouldn't count on a win."

Felicity narrows her eyebrows at him. "Challenge accepted."

Before they know it the bell has rung, the game isn't finished, and Tommy hasn't returned. After tidying up the pieces and board and packing his belongings to go home, Oliver waits outside the classroom, his eyes peeled for his friend. Felicity joins him, a stack of books clutched in her arms. Her fingernails catch his eye because they're painted a bright sunny yellow. Her thumbs even have little black happy faces on them. They're absurdly cheerful, which he thinks fits Felicity perfectly.

The hallways are clearing out, the sounds of shouting and laughter echoing around him as most kids scramble away from school as quickly as they can, but Tommy hasn't come back to get his stuff yet. For some reason, Oliver feels a nervous ball of energy building in the pit of his stomach. His fingers rub together as he scans the hallway, looking for any sign of his friend's return.

Felicity shifts her weight back and forth beside him. "Are you okay?" she asks, looking at him with concern in her eyes. Oliver knows that Felicity can sometimes live in her own little bubble because her brain moves so much faster than everybody else's, but she's also one of his best friends and she knows him better than almost anyone. "You're doing that finger rubbing thing, which always means that you're nervous or anxious. Not that- I don't mean that you're always nervous. You're actually a pretty calm person, which I think is impressive when you're almost nine, and you're a boy, and boys generally have more energy than girls and I am rambling and not helping at all so I will be stopping in 3, 2, 1."

Felicity takes a deep breath with her eyes closed, then opens them and gives him a bright smile. "Sorry. Brain to mouth connection is not quite there yet." It's so typically Felicity that the nerves in Oliver's stomach seem to settle.

He smiles hesitantly back at her, then it fades as he remembers why they're waiting around after the bell. "Tommy's not back yet. Do you think everything is okay?"

Felicity seriously considers his question. "Well, it's never a good thing when you're kept in the office after school," she says slowly, like she's choosing each word carefully. "But I think that we shouldn't jump to conclusions until we know all the facts."

She's probably right, Oliver knows, but his brain can't help but jump to the most illogical conclusions he can come up with.

Ms. Rowan strides out the door a few minutes later and almost drops the stack of math tests she's carrying when she catches sight of them. "Oh my goodness! Oliver, Felicity, what are you still doing here?"

"Tommy's not back yet," Oliver repeats. "We're waiting for him."

A cloud seems to come over Ms. Rowan's face and she brushes a fallen strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "I think that you both need to head home, and that Tommy will join you when he can," she says carefully. Her normally animated voice is soft and sends alarm bells clanging in his head. He looks at Felicity, who is watching their teacher with a puzzled look on her face.

"Okay," Felicity says, drawing out the word. "Well, let's go, Oliver. Bye, Ms. Rowan. Have a good weekend." She heads towards the doors and Oliver follows in her footsteps without thinking, his thoughts elsewhere, giving Ms. Rowan a less than heartfelt goodbye.

He nearly slams into Felicity when she abruptly stops before they get to the doors. "Oof! Felicity, why'd you stop?" He grabs onto her shoulders so he doesn't fall over like a dummy and gets a mouthful of her ponytail in the process.

Felicity turns to face him and he drops his hands to his sides. She looks over his shoulder before meeting his eyes. "Shh," she says, blue eyes wide. "Oliver. Do you really just want to go home and wait to hear from Tommy?"

Oliver shakes his head emphatically. "No. Of course not. I want to find out what's going on."

"Me too. Something's not right," she adds. There's a kind of crafty look on her face that Oliver hasn't seen before and he wonders what's going on in her head. Her thoughts move way faster than his own, so it's probably a really good idea. "So we're going to-"

Her mouth snaps closed and she suddenly grabs the sleeve of Oliver's shirt with one hand, dragging him around the corner and out of sight. "Shhhh," she says dramatically, shushing him again even though he wasn't saying anything.

"I wasn't saying anything," he protests aloud, shaking her hand off his sleeve.

Felicity eyes him knowingly, then sticks her head out around the corner. "Okay," she says, a little bit breathlessly. "The coast is clear. We're going to go to the office and get to the bottom of this whole thing. Once we find Tommy, he'll tell us that everything is all right and then we can go home and our weekends can all get back to their regularly scheduled activities."

Oliver stares at her, because of any of them, Felicity is the last one he'd ever picture breaking the rules.

She seems to read his thoughts and adds, "It's Tommy. Now come on."

She leaves her books and backpack on the floor and Oliver quickly wriggles out of his own. With a quick peek around the corner they dart down the hall, and after a high-speed dodge behind an open door when the janitor backs out of a classroom, they arrive undiscovered at the main office.

The wall is mostly glass, so it's immediately clear that the room is empty upon first glance.

"Where is he?" Oliver whispers, as they huddle outside the office, trying to remain hidden. "There's no one here."

Felicity's eyes move slowly across the room until they come to rest on the closed door of the principal. "In there," she says decisively, and then she's marching in and banging her fist on the door.

Oliver scrambles after her, not about to let her get into trouble alone if she's wrong. They're in this together.

After an agonizing moment, the door swings open and their principal, Mr. Woolley, towers over top of them. He's holding the round glasses that are always perched on his nose in his hand and his eyes are suspiciously red.

"Miss Smoak. Mister Queen. What exactly are you doing here?" Mr. Woolley looks behind them, like there's an adult who has brought them here and can answer his question.

"We're looking for Tommy Merlyn, Mr. Woolley. He came down here before the bell rang and he hasn't been back to get his stuff yet and we're really worried." Felicity's voice wobbles at the end and Oliver swallows before threading their fingers together. Her hand is kind of cold. Felicity is always complaining that she's cold. Oliver hopes he can make her feel a little better. He gives her fingers what he hopes is a comforting squeeze.

Mr. Woolley purses his lips, then sighs softly. "You're both good friends for coming to check on him," he says, making eye contact with each of them in turn, "but Mr. Merlyn has gone home. Tommy got some, well, some quite upsetting news, and I think he will need the both of you to be there for him. I suggest seeking him out as soon as you can."

Oliver's stomach drops, like when he rode the Tower of Terror at Disney World last year, and his hand squeezes tighter around Felicity's. She squeezes back just as hard.

"What do you mean, upsetting? What happened?" Felicity asks, and Oliver can hear the panic in her voice. He knows she's probably remembering last year's incident with Slade Wilson but he pushes all that out of his head because Slade is gone and Tommy's not and Tommy definitely needs them right now.

"I can't say any more, Miss Smoak. Go see Tommy." Mr. Woolley wishes them a good weekend and retreats to his office, rubbing at his temples as he shuts the door firmly behind him.

Oliver and Felicity turn to look at each other, holding a quick conversation without speaking. Wordlessly, they turn and run, back to their bags, out the door, and straight to the Merlyn's.


	4. For Whatever We Lose - Part Two

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the great response to this! Here is a companion piece to the last part. Kind of sad, but I hope you enjoy. More to come later this week, so make sure you subscribe!

* * *

Felicity sits on the swing, toes dragging through the sand beneath her. She's not sure how long she's been sitting here, but the sun has set and there's a chill winding it's way through her bones. The park is deserted, not a soul around, and for the first time in days Felicity feels like the giant elephant on her chest has vacated his post. She has always been an introverted child, occupying herself and getting lost in her thoughts for hours at a time. Her mom understands and usually leaves her to her own devices, knowing that Felicity will surface eventually, and Oliver seems to recognize this about her too. He can tell when she needs to be alone and when Felicity had desperately met his eyes across the room he had instantly taken any attention off her, letting her slip away undetected.

She knows that Tommy needs her to be his friend, needs her to hold his hand, or offer to play a game to get his mind off of things, or to make him hot chocolate, but she just needs this one moment to herself. She needs to work through what's happened on her own so that when she returns to Oliver and Tommy, who are probably huddled in his bedroom, she can fully focus on them and not the millions of thoughts whirling through her head.

The one currently at the forefront is: What if it was her mom?

What if her mom was just suddenly gone one day? There in the morning sending her to school and then, poof.

Gone.

She'd be an orphan. Like Annie. No parents to take care of her, to make her lunches or to take her to the library, to fuss over her when she gets a cough. Her dad is already gone. He left her as a baby so there's no way he'd bother coming back to take care of a nine year old. Who even knows where in the world he is. Maybe he has a brand new family.

Her mom is all she has.

There's a pressure building up in her chest, pinpricks of tears behind her eyes. All of a sudden Felicity really wants her mom. She wants to snuggle into her arms, bury her nose in her neck to smell the perfume she dabs there every morning. Wants to let her tuck her into bed the way she used to. Her mom used to recite all the things that made Felicity special as she tucked the blankets around her nice and tight; things like you're beautiful and smart and kind. You're going places, you are my favourite person, I will always be here for you.

She doesn't do it every night now, because Felicity has deemed herself old enough to put herself into bed, and sometimes her mom doesn't even get home until after Felicity's in bed anyways, but right now, Felicity wishes her mom was here. Because it's become apparent that parents don't live forever.

Felicity can't even imagine what Tommy is going through right now. Tommy's mom was so sweet, just a really kind human being who genuinely cared about people. She never looked down at Felicity, like Oliver's parents sometimes did, and she always had a plate of treats ready when they hung out at the Merlyn's house. Felicity sort of looked up to Rebecca Merlyn, because she had what seemed like a perfect life - a loving husband, a pretty cool son, a beautiful house, and a big heart. She wanted to build a clinic in the Glades for the people living there.

Felicity pretty much lives in the Glades, so she knows what the people are like there, what they live with every day, and if Rebecca had succeeded Felicity knows that she would have helped so many people. She wonders if Tommy's dad will open the clinic anyways. She hopes so and she'd like to think that Rebecca would want that too, although logically, Felicity knows that Tommy's mom can't want anything anymore because…

Well. She died.

Run down by a random gang member as she tried to help the very people who killed her. Felicity is pretty sure she's not supposed to know those grisly details, but she and Oliver had huddled outside the door of the sitting room earlier as Tommy's dad had met with a collection of people she mostly didn't recognize. They'd just arrived, red-faced and out of breath after running from school, and on the way to Tommy's room Felicity had overheard Mr. Merlyn's angry voice.

Yanking Oliver to a stop, they'd pressed themselves up against the wall, both listening silently as Tommy's dad argued with the chief of police. She pictures Oliver's stony face, lips pressed tightly together, eyes focused in the distance, and remembers how her own fingers had gripped the doorway so tightly it had left imprints on her skin.

There was no good way to find out your best friend's mom had died, but overhearing Mr. Merlyn cursing at the police for not doing enough to save his wife after she was shot in the street was devastating. Felicity had never heard his voice sound like that. She didn't know if she'd ever forget it.

They had quickly scrambled down the hallway at the sound of movement, back on the mission to hunt Tommy down. Felicity had pretended not to notice Oliver scraping his hands over his eyes, and they both silently came to a mutual decision not to tell Tommy what they'd overheard downstairs.

Shaking off the memory, Felicity breathes deeply and twines her fingers around the chains of the swing. She pushes her toes off the ground one more time, knowing that soon she needs to return inside. Her mom let her stay at Tommy's house and knows the basics about what's happened after a tearful phone call from Felicity, but she definitely doesn't have permission to be at the park down the street from the Merlyn's, alone and after dark. Tommy needs her. Oliver needs her too. Tommy and Oliver are so close that Tommy's mom is like Oliver's second mom. They've both lost something that someone so young shouldn't have to lose.

Felicity's heart hurts and she tips her head to the sky, letting the stars shine down on her, wondering if Tommy's mom is now watching them all struggle through losing her.

There's a rustling behind her that startles Felicity out of her thoughts and sends a ball of nerves hurtling through her tummy. Images of what happened to Rebecca dance through her mind. She's not in the Glades but the thought that no place is every truly safe runs through her mind. Digging her toes into the ground Felicity forces herself to a stop, eyes darting around and surveying her surroundings.

"Felicity?"

The voice is hesitant and sad and tears spring to her eyes because she's never heard him sound so lost.

Leaping off the swing, Felicity finds Tommy standing behind her. His eyes are red, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his shorts. He looks small, standing amongst the trees lining the park, and Felicity's heart thumps painfully in her chest.

"Tommy," she croaks, wiping furiously at her cheeks. "What are you doing out here?"

He doesn't meet her eyes, keeping his gaze on her shoes. "I got worried. You've been gone a long time."

Her stomach sinks. Like Tommy needs another thing to worry about, she chastises herself. Why can't she just be a normal friend who can grieve with other people?

"I'm sorry," she says, her voice small. "I just- I needed to- I can't-"

And Felicity, the queen of babbling, can't find the words to tell Tommy what's going through her head. But he understands, because he's Tommy, and he's one of her best friends, and he just gets her, and he nods shortly before striding forwards and plunking himself on her recently vacated swing.

"Give me a push?" he asks, and she gulps and nods, which he can't see with his back to her, so she places her hands firmly in the centre of his back and shoves. He doesn't go far, which is a testament to her lack of upper body strength, but she pushes him again, and again, and again until it sends him far enough that he must feel like he's reaching the stars.

She steps back and watches as he leans backwards, head reaching for the ground, eyes looking up to the heavens. She knows from experience the drop you get in your tummy when you suddenly sit up and wonders if that's what he needs right now. He seems sad, even kind of forlorn, but Felicity doesn't think that it's really hit him yet. Maybe he needs a jolt to make him understand that what's going on is real, that this is permanent. His mom isn't coming back.

There are tears on her cheeks again and she shoves her hands in her pockets, leaning against the cool metal of the swing set and allowing herself this one moment of grief as Tommy swings like a pendulum in front of her, trying to escape the reality that is now his life.

"I don't know what to do."

The words startle Felicity out of her thoughts and she looks around for a moment before realizing that the words have come from Tommy and that he's no longer swinging but just sitting, much like Felicity had been before he'd found her. Apparently her thinking spot is popular.

He's waiting for an answer, she thinks, but she doesn't have one for him. She may be smart, but her dad left without a goodbye and she's never met her grandparents. She's never had to say goodbye to anyone, let alone a parent who should be tucking you in, not resting in a morgue downtown - at least that's where TV police dramas that she shouldn't be watching have led Felicity to believe Rebecca Merlyn is now, but she really doesn't know for sure, and she's just going to stop that train of thought right now because Tommy needs her and she is here for him.

Felicity walks forwards him, circling around and stopping in front of him, just an arm's reach away. "I don't know either," she confesses, voice soft in the night breeze, "But I do know two things: you have so many people who are here for you, who care about you and who aren't going to let you go through this alone. And I don't know what comes next, but I'll be here with you to face it."

Tommy sniffles and draws a line in the sand with his toe. Felicity presses her lips together because there's so much she wants to say but none of it is probably the right thing, and so she just crosses the line and rests her hand on Tommy's shoulder, lending him comfort without a word.

* * *

Oliver sits on a bench in the Merlyn's backyard, the stone warm beneath him. The sun is shining brightly and it just doesn't seem right. Today they've buried Tommy's mom. He feels miserable and he figures the weather should echo that, but instead it's mocking them all.

His suit is choking him, making him sweat in places that he didn't know and would have been okay never discovering even made sweat. Oliver is sure that if Rebecca knew what they were up to, she would've rather had them all say goodbye in their most comfortable clothes. She was never one for fancy affairs.

Oliver has spent many nights at Tommy's, lots of them when their parents went out to various benefits together. Rebecca always wore appropriately fancy dresses. She would wish them a good night with the babysitter, but Oliver could tell that she'd much rather be snuggled in her PJ's on the couch with them than headed out to a classy party.

Pulling at his collar, Oliver glances around. The backyard is filled with people in dark colours, come to pay their respects to one of Starling City's most promising residents. His parents are here somewhere, and he's sure they'd chide him for sitting alone instead of socializing with the people around him, but Oliver can't seem to bring himself to care.

Lacing his hands together on his lap, he looks at his fingers folded together and remembers how just hours ago Felicity's fingers had intertwined with his own as they'd stood beside the open grave, behind Tommy as he'd thrown a handful of dirt on his mom's coffin. His dad had stood beside him like a statue, moving only when directed, a blank look on his face like he was somewhere else entirely.

Oliver can't imagine what Mr. Merlyn is going through. Tommy's mom was an amazing person and was like a second mother to him. Oliver isn't sure how to deal with all the emotions swirling inside of him. He hasn't felt grief like this before. It's this yawning black pit in his chest that hurts if he pays it too much attention. So he tries not to.

He doesn't know what it's like to lose the person you love most in the world and he'd like to never find out.

Out of the corner of his eye he catches a flash of blonde hair in the crowd. Felicity stands beside her mom, who is weeping into a handkerchief she has pressed against her face. Felicity looks at her shoes as her mom nods along to whatever the man beside her says. Her cheeks are dry but she looks miserable. Oliver doesn't recognize the man, but that doesn't say much because Rebecca Merlyn had connections to so many people. She might have been one of the best people Oliver knows. Knew, he corrects himself with a shake of his head.

Through the crowd Oliver spies Tommy pushing through people and concern erupts in his chest. Tommy looks upset, more so than when Oliver left him standing with his father receiving condolences from family and friends. Oliver leaps to his feet and chases after him, shoving through the crowd without a care.

Tommy disappears into the house and Oliver follows, the air conditioning a cool relief after the unusual May heatwave outside. He immediately sheds the suit jacket that his mom made him wear, dropping it on the nearest chair and loosening the tie around his neck. He lets out a relieved sigh, feeling some of the weight that's resting on his shoulders fall off. Tommy's disappeared once he looks around, but if Oliver has three guesses and the first two don't count, he knows where Tommy has gone.

Sure enough, Oliver finds his best friend in the library. It was Rebecca's favourite room in the house. Tommy's curled up in one of the armchairs, a deep purple blanket wrapped around his shoulders despite the heat outside. A fire crackles merrily in the fireplace below a large stone mantle that holds various Merlyn family photos. Tommy's face is hidden in the curves of the blanket, but Oliver can see that his shoulders are shaking and so he stops awkwardly in the doorway, unsure of how to proceed.

Tommy is his best friend but Oliver is not the most emotional person and he doesn't deal particularly well with tears. Felicity cries sometimes and although he desperately wants to be the one to make her feel better, he tends to steer her towards Tommy, who's always better in those kinds of situations.

But there's no Felicity around now, just Oliver and Tommy, and Tommy needs his best friend, so Oliver swallows, rolls back his shoulders, and walks into the room.

"Tommy? Are you okay?" Oliver cringes as soon as the words come out of his mouth because Tommy's probably heard that question a thousand times today. He frantically searches for something better to say. Something helpful or or thoughtful or supportive. "I mean, uh…"

Tommy saves Oliver from floundering, as usual, but his answer doesn't particularly help. "No," Tommy says, not looking up. "I'm really not okay."

Oliver sighs heavily, tears rising unbidden at the devastated tone in Tommy's voice. How does he fix this? Something inside of him is demanding that Oliver fix this problem, but he's clueless at what to do.

He hesitates, unsure, but then Felicity is there, all sweeping emotions and embraces. She wraps skinny arms around Tommy, practically curing up in his lap, and Oliver sees faint streaks of tears on her pale face. Her eyes are closed and she doesn't say anything, which is abnormal for Felicity, but Oliver notices Tommy relax infinitely in her embrace.

There's a moment where none of them move. Oliver feels like he's suspended, like everything is in slow-motion. But then it all snaps back and Tommy's shoulders are still shaking and fresh tears are joining the dried ones on Felicity's cheeks and Oliver is gasping for breath before he even realizes he's in motion.

He stumbles forward and Felicity's eyes snap open, watching him through her tears. Oliver rests a hand on Tommy's shoulder and he and Felicity stare at each other. Oliver wants to wipe away her tears and help her stop crying. He can feel it in his chest, this need to make her feel better, but he doesn't think there's anything he can do right now.

Felicity sniffles and wriggles off the chair. Once she's standing she's very close to Oliver and he has to look straight down to meet her eyes. She looks up at him with a sad smile and then nods to the couch beside them.

Oliver leads the way as Felicity whispers to Tommy and then pulls him to his feet. She leads him to the couch and Tommy drags the blanket he's been clutching along with him, gaze fixed firmly on the ground. He flops on the far side of the couch, and Felicity settles herself in the middle, between Tommy and Oliver. Oliver can feel the warmth from the fire across from them on his face and the fleeting thought that it's pretty useless to light a fire during a heatwave at the end of May crosses his mind. But then Felicity presses herself against his side and he wraps an arm gently around her shoulder. Her shoulders shake against him and he takes a shaky breath.

Looking down, he finds her face buried against his side, tears wetting the stiff fabric of his dress shirt. Oliver is pretty sure he hasn't seen Felicity really cry since they first got the news of Tommy's mom. There have been tears on her face but he doesn't think she's actually let go and cried about the whole thing. He tightens his arm, tucking her tightly against him as tears threaten behind his eyes. He wants desperately to protect her from any more pain. Felicity reaches out and blindly grasps Tommy's fingers. He clutches her hand like a lifeline and the sorrow on his face causes tears to trek silently down Oliver's cheeks.

They sit for awhile, intertwined, the silence broken only by the occasional sniffle from Felicity.

"So what do we do now?" Tommy eventually asks, his voice low.

Felicity hesitates and Oliver doesn't know what to say either. "We get through this," Felicity finally answers hoarsely, because out of all of them she's always the one with the answers. "Together."

Tommy nods shortly, eyes focused on the flames in front of him, cheeks wet. Oliver pulls Felicity snugly against him. His heart just hurts; there is so much pain surrounding him and he doesn't know how to help his friends. He's not sure what else he can do but be there for them.

Tommy needs him because his dad definitely isn't helping him through this; Malcolm seems to have shut out everyone around him in order to deal with the loss of his wife. And Felicity, she's so emotional and she feels everything so deeply that Oliver knows that inside she's hurting almost as much as Tommy.

"Together." Oliver echoes Felicity, and he knows it in the pit of his stomach. This isn't the end of their struggle. There's more still to come but somehow he knows that if they follow Felicity's advice, if they stick together, they'll be able to combat anything.

He presses his cheek against her hair and watches as the fire slowly fades into embers.


	5. Days Go By - Part One

Moving forwards with some new things! A bit of a different format for the next few parts as we follow Oliver and Felicity through some interesting new developments. I hope you enjoy! Reviews are always much appreciated :)

* * *

 **September 5**

Oliver tries to put on a happy face as Thea wraps herself around his legs like a squirmy monkey. He can't believe that he's here, dropping his baby sister off for her first day of kindergarten. His parents should be the ones sending her off with hugs and kisses, but no, it's Oliver who has to fill in once again. Just thinking about his parents right now makes him angry, so he tries to push all those thoughts away and focus on Thea. It's an important day for her.

He reaches down and unwinds her arms from around him. He bends down to her height and uses his most gentle big brother voice. "Thea, it's time to go into class." She ignores him and throws herself at him again. Oliver sighs. He's going to be late for his first day of fifth grade if he can't get her to let go of his legs and get into class ASAP.

"Come on Speedy," he says, "You are going to have so much fun. I loved kindergarten and Mrs. Hawthorne is a really nice teacher. I promise."

As he talks he slowly steers them into the room and points out where she should put her backpack. Thea hesitantly lets go of him to hang up her things and as Oliver steps back, she's pounced on by a tiny blonde girl.

"Theaaaaa!" the girl cries, drawing out her name until she runs out of breath. She smiles brightly at Thea, and Oliver recognizes Laurel's little sister. She and Thea went to the same preschool last year. "Hurray, I was so worried when I got here and I couldn't find you, but here you are!"

Oliver watches as Thea's face brightens at the sight of her friend. "Hi Sara!"

"Come on," Sara says, pulling enthusiastically at Thea's arm, "I was colouring the most beautifullest picture ever and I definitely need your help to get it juuuuust right."

Thea giggles and follows Sara across the room. "Bye Ollie. I'll see you after school, right?"

"I'll meet you right here," he answers with a nod. "Have fun!"

Turning away, he sees Mrs. Hawthorne watching him from across the room. She gives him a gentle smile and she still looks almost exactly the same, but with slightly greyer hair. Oliver can't believe how much things have changed in the years since he was in kindergarten.

He met Felicity, they dealt with the whole Slade debacle, he became a big brother, Tommy lost his mom… It seems like a lot in only a few short years.

He gives Mrs. Hawthorne a wave and heads to his own class. The bell has already rung, so the halls are thankfully empty. Oliver takes a deep breath, shoving his hands into his pockets as he walks.

This year is definitely going to be different. Oliver's a bit nervous, if he's being honest with himself. Over the summer, Felicity had been asked to take some placement tests, and the school had skipped her ahead into sixth grade. Oliver had always known she was smart, so while he's not really surprised, he is a bit disappointed. He's always counted on Felicity being next to him, her bright smile leading the way. Felicity had also told him that they'd wanted to move her ahead two grades but her mom had refused.

She'd been disappointed but Oliver's secretly thankful that Donna Smoak had put her foot down. Felicity's mom could be kind of flighty but she always has her daughter's best interests at heart. If Felicity had been moved into seventh grade, they wouldn't see each other at all. Seventh graders got to do rotary and switch classes each period. They had a different lunch break and they didn't get recess.

Oliver also can't imagine Felicity, his Felicity, hanging out with teenagers. It's not that she's immature, 'cause she's not exactly. But she's just so funny and rambly and kind of awkward that Oliver can't help but feel she'd have gotten eaten alive. Sixth grade is okay though. Fifth and sixth graders get the same breaks, so he and Felicity will get to hang out at lunches and recesses, and there's the infamous junior stargazing trip to look forward to in the spring as well.

It's also the first year, ever, that he and Tommy are in different classes. So many things are changing this year and Oliver doesn't know what he's going to do without either of his best friends. He and Tommy have promised that they'll stick together but Tommy makes friends really easily, so maybe he'll meet new friends that are more fun than him.

Oliver shakes his head, ridding himself of that idea. Nah. There's no one more fun than Oliver Queen, he reassures himself.

Arriving at his classroom door, he opens it and confidently walks in. The teacher, a younger Asian man he doesn't recognize, stands at the front of the room. He stops abruptly in the middle of whatever he was saying.

"Hello. And you are?" He looks expectantly at Oliver. Oliver feels his confidence melt away like ice cream on a hot summer day.

"Oliver Queen."

"I am Mr. Fei and I'll be your teacher this year. You're late, Oliver Queen." Mr. Fei doesn't look angry but Oliver feels a sense of disappointment. He doesn't like it. For some reason, he wants Mr. Fei to be impressed, to be proud of him. He gets the feeling that he's going to have to work for that.

"Sorry, sir. I had to take my little sister to her first day of kindergarten and she had a hard time letting go of me." Oliver feels the anger bubbling up inside that he had to step in a be a parent to Thea, _again_ , and immediately stamps it down.

Mr. Fei nods towards an empty desk in the middle of the room. "Take your seat." Oliver hurries to sit down. Laurel Lance smiles up from beside him. Oliver grins back as Mr. Fei continues explaining their classroom rules. Tommy has had a crush on Laurel Lance since he helped her bandage her knee in kindergarten. Oliver can't wait to rub it in his face that he gets to sit beside her all year.

Mr. Fei doesn't give them any homework, they get to learn about the ancient Egyptians later in the year, and besides Laurel he knows a couple other kids in his class. Maybe this won't be such a bad year after all.

"This year is going to be _horrible_ ," Felicity moans as Oliver leans against the wall outside Thea's classroom beside her. She lets her head fall back against the wall with a thud as she dramatically flings a hand across her eyes.

Oliver stifles a laugh. "What happened?"

Felicity must not like his tone because she sharply turns her head to look at him with narrowed eyes. "What happened? What _happened_? I'll tell you what happened, Oliver Queen! I made a complete fool of myself in front of my entire class and they all think I'm horrible and awkward and nobody wanted to sit beside me, but some poor new kid got stuck there, and then I made it worse when I opened my mouth to talk to him and I don't think I can come back to school anymore. I think I need to leave, I need to move away to some far off land where no one has ever heard of Felicity Smoak and her terrible runaway mouth and-"

"Felicity! Oliver!"

Felicity's rant is thankfully interrupted by Thea flying out of the classroom and into her arms. As much as Oliver wants to know about her day, he's not sure that ramble was every going to reach it's destination. Felicity's mouth snaps shut and she smiles and gives Thea a quick squeeze. Oliver does the same and Thea grins toothily at him.

"How was your day, Thea?" Felicity asks, grabbing her hand and swinging it between them. "Did you make some new friends?"

Thea nods excitedly and takes Oliver's hand so she's sandwiched in the middle. "Yup. Well I already knew Sara, but now we're best friends," she says seriously. "And Sara made friends with this other girl. She's from far away, I forget where, but her name's Nyssa. She's pretty nice. She's really good at the monkey bars so I think we'll be friends, too. And then there's this boy."

Her face turns stormy and Oliver and Felicity turn to look at each other over Thea's head. He knows they're thinking the same thing.

"What boy?" Oliver asks, and maybe his voice is a little sharper than it needs to be, but Thea is precious and if there's some boy hassling her…

"Hey guys!" Tommy jogs up to them with a huff. "Sorry I'm late, had to help a lovely lady with her books." He grins at them, hitching up his backpack on one shoulder, blue eyes twinkling. Thea turns to give him a big smile. She likes Felicity, but she really likes Tommy. Oliver's noticed that Thea sometimes gravitates towards Tommy instead of Oliver, with all the time Tommy spends at their house nowadays.

Felicity laughs and shakes her head. "Tommy Merlyn, you've already found a new girl?" she accuses, narrowing her eyes at him. "It's only the first day of school!"

"I couldn't help it. She has the most beautiful smile," he says, a dopey look on his face.

Felicity shoves him halfheartedly with a laugh and the group starts to walk now that they're all present and accounted for.

Oliver half listens to Felicity bugging Tommy about this new girl. It's pretty common now. Tommy has decided that girls are actually not as gross as he'd once thought and has a new crush every week or so. Oliver isn't sure he's on board with this whole idea - Felicity is okay and obviously so is Thea, but he doesn't think girls are useful for much more than friends to play tag or hide and go seek with. Not that he'd tell Tommy that though. Tommy would probably make fun of him.

"So Thea, who is _your_ new boyfriend?" Felicity asks teasingly, sing-singing the last word.

Thea screeches. "Ewww! He is _not_ my boyfriend. That's so gross. He stole my most perfect purple crayon while I was colouring. He is so mean!"

Tommy gasps dramatically. "He _stole your crayon_? How dare he! What's his name? We'd better call the police."

Thea giggles. "No police, Tommy! His name is Red Hoodie Roy. Well not really. Just in my head. He was pretty sneaky about the whole thing but I saw him and I yelled at him and then he looked kind of scared." Thea looks pretty smug about this. Oliver knows that his little sister is bossy so he's not surprised. She can be kind of scary when she yells, for a tiny five year old girl. "He gave it back after that. And said sorry. But I don't think we're going to be friends," she adds. "Boys are icky."

Felicity nods seriously at this. "Yes. Boys are the worst."

"Hey," Oliver protests, turning to look at her in mock outrage. "Boys are not the worst!" She playfully grins at him, wrinkling her nose and sticking out her tongue, before pulling Thea away from him. They skip off ahead, singing some song that rhymes the words 'smelly boys' and 'farting noise'.

Tommy turns to look at him. "We are not smelly," he says with wide eyes. Oliver mirrors his baffled look, shrugging his shoulders. "Are we?"

 **September 18**

"Oh my God, Felicity, what are you wearing?"

She looks up startled and nearly flings the book she'd been concentrating on across the room with a yelp. With an impressive feat of leaps and bounds Oliver manages to catch the hardcover before it reaches the floor. He holds it with one hand against his chest and stares at Felicity in shock. When had this happened? He blames his parents for missing this startling discovery. He was late this morning after they had both left for work without telling him and he'd had to hurriedly make himself and Thea a lunch for school. They're both turning into workaholics and Oliver really doesn't like it.

"Oliver!" Felicity hisses. "What are you doing sneaking up on me? You need a bell!" She points at him with one hand and snatches her book back with the other.

Oliver rolls his eyes, plopping down into the seat across from her. It's not the first time she's told him that. He can be very sneaky when he wants to be. Opening his mouth to speak, the librarian loudly clears her throat, levelling him with a pointed glare from behind her desk, so he leans across the table to repeat his question in a whisper. "Felicity. What are you wearing?"

She looks up from her book, meeting his eyes, and he's pretty sure she looks… nervous? Unsure?

"Well, I- I've been having trouble seeing the board lately, and sometimes my head really hurts, so Mr. DiMarco called my mom and my mom took me to the doctor and- well… They said I need glasses." She looks down at the table as she finishes, gestures halfheartedly at said glasses now perched on her nose, and Oliver doesn't understand.

"What- I mean… Are you embarrassed?" he asks, because he's pretty sure that's what she's feeling but he doesn't get it. Felicity gets embarrassed pretty often, usually because her mouth runs away with her, but he's never seen her like this. Usually her cheeks turn pink and she laughs it off, but right now she looks kind of miserable.

She looks away, over her shoulder to where there's a group of kids working together, and then back at him with a sigh. "I'm not embarrassed," she says quietly. "I just… I don't want people to look at me differently."

Oliver has never known Felicity to care what other people think of her; she's always been independent and confident and her own person. He wonders if someone has said something to her to make her think this way and wants to punch the person who has put that look on her face in the nose. He takes in the black square frames that she's chosen and decides that they suit her. They make her look smart, even though he already thought she looked smart before. They're perfectly Felicity and it's like they complete her somehow. She wasn't incomplete before or anything, but he can't picture her without glasses now that she has them.

"Felicity," he says carefully, looking her right in the eyes. Her eyes are bright and very blue behind the lenses. "No one is going to look at you differently. You're amazing. You were amazing without glasses and you are amazing with glasses. You are my best friend and whether you have glasses or pimples or even an eye patch, you will always be my best friend."

She huffs out a laugh, then swallows and smiles at him and Oliver smiles back, grabbing her hand as it rests on the table. "Thanks," she says. "I'm going to hold you to that, you know. Especially the pimples." She wiggles her eyebrows at him and pushes at her glasses as they slip down her nose and Oliver gulps because something about that gesture has made him break out in a… sweat? His heart is racing too, like he's run a mile.

Is it hot in here?

It's definitely gotten like 30 degrees warmer in the last minute.

"Um, well, I've gotta go, Tommy's waiting for me," he says in a rush, shaking off her hand and practically leaping to his feet. Felicity minutely shakes her head and her glasses slip a bit and her hand is going to push them back up and Oliver has just got to get out of there. "See you later."

Then he tears out of the library like a bat out of hell. The librarian shoots him a dirty look and hisses at him to walk as he practically runs to the safety of the hallway.

Oliver stops halfway to his class and leans against the wall, chest heaving. He braces his hands on his knees and tries to get the image of Felicity and her stupid adorable glasses slipping down her nose out of his head.

This is Felicity. His best friend. What is wrong with him?


	6. Days Go By - Part Two

I'm glad you're all enjoying this one! I love reading your comments. Let me know your thoughts about this chapter :)

* * *

 **October 4**

Felicity's new friend is huge.

Like, actually. He's built like a giant.

Oliver manages a small grin at the guy, because Felicity has had nothing but good things to say about him and Oliver knows she's been having a hard time making friends with kids a year older than her. He and Felicity don't get to see each other as much as he'd wish, and she's not settling into sixth grade as smoothly as she might have hoped, and this John Diggle person has made it easier for her. So he's trying to be nice, for Felicity's sake. The kids in her grade can be nasty and as desperately as he wants to be the one to protect her, he can't always be there. He's glad that she's got someone in her corner.

But leave it to Felicity to find the one guy in all of Starling Elementary who intimidates him.

They're standing in a little group on the tarmac as kids run wildly around them, letting out their extra energy over the lunch hour. Standing beside John Diggle, Oliver has to look up at him to meet his eyes. He's a good head taller than Oliver and his arms are the size of small watermelons… Maybe medium watermelons. In any case, they're bigger than anything Oliver's ever seen on a kid their age, and by the look Tommy is giving him, he's not alone in being a little bit scared for his life.

He and Tommy look at each other, holding a silent conversation while John Diggle listens to Felicity, and they are definitely on the same page. They're glad that the new kid has seen how awesome their blonde friend is, and Oliver is definitely happy that Felicity has made a friend in her class, even if this guy might be able to knock him out with one hit.

Although, maybe that's a good person for Felicity to have in her corner.

Without a doubt, he wants to stay on John Diggle's good side.

Felicity is happily babbling away, telling them all about the project that she and John "Call Me Digg" Diggle started working on in science, and Oliver is lost, as usual. The fall sunshine lights up Felicity's hair like a halo while her mouth moves a mile a minute. He enjoys watching the way her face comes alive when she's excited about something.

Wait. _What?_

Again with the weird Felicity thoughts. What the heck is wrong with him lately? Felicity is his best friend.

"Earth to Oliver!" Tommy waves an annoyed hand in front of his face. "Dude, where were you just then? I've been calling your name forever."

Oliver forces a laugh. Play it cool, play it cool, he tells himself, repeating the mantra in his head. "What? Nowhere. Here, duh. What were you saying?"

Digg eyes him like he knows exactly what Oliver was thinking and Oliver forces his face into what he hopes is a totally neutral expression.

"Well, my distracted friend, Felicity was saying that she was invited to a party," Tommy tells him with a gleam in his eye.

Oliver turns to look at Felicity, eyebrows raised expectantly. She raises her eyebrows back with a tiny grin. "Really," he says, drawing out the word. Maybe Felicity is fitting in better than he'd thought. "And what party is this? There's no way it's going to beat a Queen party."

"Or a Merlyn party," Tommy adds quickly.

Both of their families are well known for throwing lavish parties. Oliver used to hate them, but now they're growing on him. He kind of enjoys seeing the wealthy people of Starling City socialize and it doesn't hurt that he's always got his wingman. He and Tommy usually make up fake conversations for people they don't know and pig out on delicious food.

Last time his dad had even let him have a taste of his scotch. It had burned and made him break out in a bit of a sweat, but left a kind of enjoyable warmth in his stomach afterwards. And it meant that his dad was starting to see that he's growing up. Finally.

Felicity rolls her eyes because she's never been to one of his parents' affairs. "It's just a Halloween party," she says, nudging her glasses up her nose. Oliver coughs. How has he still not gotten used to that? Good grief. "Carter Bowen's having it. Probably won't be anything special. I don't even know if I'm going to go."

Digg nudges Felicity with his shoulder. "Aw, come on, Felicity. Carter made sure to specially invite you. I think his feelings would be hurt if you didn't go."

At this, Felicity immediately turns a violent shade of pink, makes a strangled kind of noise, and quickly looks anywhere but at Oliver. Oliver feels like an large and angry dragon has made a home in his chest. It breathes fierce spurts of fire when he pictures Carter Bowen, who is an idiot at the best of times, using his stupid charming voice to 'specially' invite Felicity to his Halloween party.

He clenches his teeth together to avoid saying anything about Carter Bowen and Felicity sneaks a look at Oliver from under her lashes, like she wants to see what his reaction is. "Well, are we invited too?" The words are out of his mouth before he even realizes what he's saying. John smirks at him and Felicity stares.

"Oliver, you actually want to go to Bowen's party?" Tommy asks incredulously.

Oliver nods jerkily, not looking over at Tommy. He's stuck in this now. "Yep," he says. "I actually heard about it earlier and it sounds like it will be pretty lame, but I think Laurel is also invited so we should go so you can spend time with your lady."

Now it's Tommy's turn to roll his eyes. Oliver breathes a tiny sigh of relief that he's pushed the attention onto Tommy. Digg chokes out a laugh but Oliver gets the sense that Digg doesn't quite believe his cover story.

"Laurel is not my _lady,_ " Tommy retorts with a glare.

"Yeah, not yet." Oliver laughs and Tommy leaps at him. They roll around on the ground, wrestling good-naturedly.

Digg and Felicity stand and watch. Felicity shakes her head watching them. "Boys."

 **October 31**

Felicity stands nervously at the door, wringing her hands. Her mom is long gone, with the demand that Felicity behave herself and be home by ten o'clock. Donna will be at work until after midnight, but she trusts Felicity on her own because it's pretty laughable that she'd ever break the rules.

She'd be insulted, but it's true. Felicity loves rules.

For example, although tonight is her first boy-girl party, her mom hadn't even been concerned about that at all; she was more interested in how Felicity was going to wear her hair than if she had a ride home later.

There's a quick honk from outside signalling that her ride is here and Felicity turns to look in the mirror one last time, checking that her costume pieces are all in place.

She's chosen to be a character from one of her favourite books, _Alice in Wonderland_. Her mom is actually pretty good with a sewing machine, so in between her shifts all month she's been slaving over this blue dress and white apron. It's beautiful and Felicity had gushed over it for hours today.

She brushes her hands over the poofy skirt that falls to just above her knees, overlaid by an apron tied around her waist. White knee-socks and black shoes complete the look, along with a super-soft black headband with a big black bow attached that holds her hair, forced straight by her mom and her trusty straightener, back from her glasses-free face.

She looks pretty Alice-like, she thinks, but just in case she's carrying her battered copy of the book in her arms.

With one last grin at herself, Felicity quickly grabs her house key and locks the door behind her. She is the ultimate latchkey kid, so she remembers all the little things, like leaving the porch light on for later. After the one time she forgot last year and struggled to get the key into the lock for fifteen minutes, all the while imagining creepy who-knows-whats sneaking up in the dark behind her, she never forgets to turn it on when she goes out.

"Hey," she says breathlessly as she slides into the backseat beside Tommy. "Happy Halloween! Hi Mrs. Queen, thanks so much for taking us to the party."

She'd been pretty surprised when Oliver had called and told her that his mom was going to drive them, but she'd kept her mouth shut about it because she knows Oliver's been pretty frustrated with how busy his parents are. He hasn't said anything, but she can tell by the way his shoulders fall each time they miss a baseball game or when he tells her that he tucked Thea into bed again.

Moira Queen smiles kindly at her in the rearview mirror. "It's not a problem at all, Felicity. So nice to see you."

Moira is always so formal and polished, the complete opposite of her mom. Although she's been friends with Oliver for years, Felicity still feels like she has to be on her best behaviour when Moira's around. Even when she runs into Moira in her PJs at the Queen house Felicity uses her best manners. She can't stand the idea of Oliver's mom thinking poorly of her.

Oliver turns around in his seat to smile at her, but then he looks kind of like he got punched in the stomach and whips back around to face the front.

Tommy grins at her. "Nice costume, Felicity. I like it."

"Thanks," she replies, readjusting her headband and sending a confused look at the back of Oliver's head. What's his deal?

They pull away from the curb and the car is pretty quiet on the ride to Carter's house. Moira asks about school and how she's enjoying sixth grade, and Felicity keeps her answers short but polite. She's a bit nervous; there are definitely a few butterflies fluttering around her stomach, although she can't pinpoint exactly why.

Soon enough they're pulling up to the party and they all hop out, thanking Oliver's mom for the ride. "I'll be back just before ten to pick you up," she reminds them through the window with an extra smile for Oliver.

Oliver nods hurriedly and waves her away. Felicity smiles and waves before turning to face the house.

"Well. Here we are," she says, stating the obvious. She clutches her arm tightly around her book and swallows. Her mouth is super dry. Hopefully there are drinks inside. She could definitely go for some Island Punch. And snacks. Snacks are the best part of Halloween. The little pre-wrapped candies, tiny bags of chips, baby-sized chocolate bars…

Tommy gives her a funny look. "What's up with you?" he asks. He's dressed like a ninja turtle, including the bandana across his eyes. It's orange, which makes his blue eyes pop dramatically.

Felicity laughs but it comes out super high-pitched and not normal at all. Why is she nervous? It's just a party. A party with boys. With a boy who invited her. Which is not like a date at all, because she's ten and spends most of her time with boys anyway, so really, nothing out of the ordinary here at all. "Nothing! Nothing at all. Let's go."

Wrinkling his nose at her, Oliver shakes his head. "Oooookay," he says.

He's also dressed like a ninja turtle, but instead of red, his bandana is blue. The blue makes his eyes looks even bluer than normal and she stares at him for a moment before pulling her gaze away.

Tommy and Oliver make pretty cute turtles, Felicity thinks. She especially likes the stuffed shells they have on their backs. Felicity doesn't waste her time with dumb cartoons like the Super Mutant Ninja Turtles, so she's not sure what their turtle names are.

She had suggested they dress up like the Super Mario characters, which she figured was a great idea because one could be Mario and one could be Luigi and she'd be Princess Peach, or maybe Yoshi depending on how much time she could beg her mom to spend at the sewing machine, but the boys had insisted that they wanted to be ninja turtles this year, leaving Felicity to find her own costume, unless she wanted to dress up like a masked reptile, which she most definitely _did not_.

Leaving her shelled companions behind, Felicity shakes off the stupid butterflies in her stomach and strides determinedly up the front walk to the house. She hears Oliver and Tommy hustling to catch up as she rings the doorbell.

Tonight is going to be awesome, Felicity decides. Well, she hopes.

Awesome, Oliver thinks as he watches Felicity giggle with Laurel on the couch across the room. They look over at where he and Tommy are standing beside the ping pong table, Laurel says something else, and they collapse into laughter again.

"Man, what is Felicity telling her?" Tommy asks from beside him, worry clear in his voice. "She's got years of things I've done to tell Laurel that will make me look stupid."

Oliver slaps a hand on Tommy's shoulder. "Dude, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Felicity has an arsenal of stuff about the both of us but she would never spill it. Best friend code."

Tommy huffs out a laugh. "Best friend code? I don't know about that. I think this whole girl code thing ranks higher."

Oliver pulls his eyes away from the girls to look over at Tommy. He sounds legitimately concerned that Felicity is going to ruin his chances with Laurel. Is this crush on Laurel actually for real?

"Tommy, come on. You have got to relax. Felicity is your friend and she's not going to badmouth you to Laurel." Tommy looks torn, like he sort of believes him, but then his eyes catch on something behind Oliver's shoulder.

"Whoa, that- that is interesting," Tommy says, shoving Oliver's shoulder to make him turn around.

Oliver catches a glimpse of Carter Bowen, dressed as the Riddler, moving away from Felicity, a sly grin on his face. That dragon in his chest rears it's head again with an irritated roar an his fists clench instinctively. Pink floods Felicity's cheeks and she and Laurel look at each other and giggle again. She doesn't look upset, so it must not have been something mean. Oliver doesn't think he's ever seen Felicity giggle this much in his life - what is going on with her?

"What do you think he said to her?" Oliver demands, suddenly angry.

Tommy shrugs. "I dunno. Let's play." He hands Oliver a paddle and heads around to the other side of the table.

Oliver nods, picking up the ball and giving it a testing bounce on the table.

"You're going down, Merlyn," he taunts as Tommy scoffs. He serves and the game is off. Oliver gives it his all, pushing out all the pesky Felicity thoughts that have been bouncing around in his head lately. He's focused and he's actually beating Tommy for once, but Oliver can't help but notice that a few minutes later, Felicity is gone.

Felicity steps cautiously into the backyard, firmly shutting the sliding door behind her. The Bowen's have a massive yard that stretches into the darkness, further than Felicity can see, but Carter told her to meet him on the swing set which is thankfully bathed in moonlight.

She's not sure what exactly he needs to tell her that he can't say inside where everybody else is, but an excited tingle runs down her back all the same.

Most of the kids in her class are pretty indifferent to her. A few are outright nasty. John is really the only person who's accepted her for who she is. Felicity's not surprised - she's smarter than them, and younger, and they've all pretty much known each other since they were in kindergarten. Newcomers aren't welcomed with open arms, which is okay. It's just school, and Felicity has other friends - she doesn't need the jerks in her grade to like her.

But lately Carter has been going out of his way to be nice to her. He sharpened her pencil for her last week, he'd helped her when she dropped all her papers on the floor the other day, and just now, he'd whispered that he really liked her costume and to meet him on the swings so he could tell her something.

The grass is soft under her shoes and the swing is a little bit damp when she sits. Hopefully Carter won't be too long because it's getting pretty chilly. Goosebumps rise on her arms as she gently toes herself forwards and back.

She's not sure how long she sits there for, slowly swinging back and forth, but it's long enough that her fingers feel like popsicles and there are small tremors running through her body. A sudden sound at the doors startle her and she sees a big huddle of people peering out into the yard.

Squinting, she can just make out Carter at the front of the pack, giant laughs shaking his whole body. He points at her and says something to the kid beside him and they both laugh even harder.

Tears well up in her eyes and she blinks furiously, refusing to let any fall. She looks away, staring out into the backyard, pretending she's in her own little bubble, as though this doesn't bother her at all. Show no weakness, she tells herself, pressing her lips together. Don't let them see you cry.

Obviously it was all a scheme to make her look like an idiot. Like Carter, or any boy, would actually want to spend time with her alone. Looking up at the sky, Felicity squeezes her eyes shut tightly, hoping with everything that she has that everybody will disappear so she can escape without anyone seeing.

A loud slam follows her wish and she jumps, but doesn't move otherwise. Her heart angrily pounds in her chest, at war with the tears that won't stop threatening to fall.

Kids suck.

"Felicity?"

Oliver. Darn it.

She takes a deep breath through her nose, hoping that will help. It doesn't.

"Felicity, come on. Look at me."

His voice is soft, the same old Oliver voice that he breaks out when it's just the two of them. He doesn't seem to care that the rest of their school thinks she's an outcast, that's she's too smart for her own good. He's always just cared about her, about plain old Felicity.

Two traitorous tears escape down her cheeks and with a heavy breath she opens her eyes to find Oliver standing in front of her, backlit by moonlight. His bandana hangs around his neck and even though he has a giant shell strapped to his back he manages to look cool.

He gives her a smile. "That's better." His eyes ask her what's wrong and she looks away. She can't bear to explain, but he seems to understand anyways.

"Carter is a jackass." Oliver's voice is very matter to fact and Felicity gasps, snapping her eyes back to his. He doesn't look apologetic at all. "Felicity, he's a jerk. He hurt you." He looks like he's in pain at the thought of her being hurt and his hands clench into fists at his sides. "I'm going to find him, I'm going to find him and hit him in-"

"No, Oliver. No fighting." Her voice comes out pretty strong, thank goodness. She already looks pathetic enough. No need to add a whimpering, scaredy-cat voice on top.

Oliver gives her a look. "But this is not okay, Felicity. He can't just get away with treating you like this."

Felicity sniffles. "You are not going to fight Carter Bowen. You'll just get in trouble." His eyes soften a bit, but now that's he mentioned it, her brain starts whirring. She's never used her insane computer powers for bad, has never broken the rules, but maybe it's about time that she does. "You're right. But I'm going to handle it, okay? This is my fight and as much as I love you for it, you can't always fight my battles."

There's a beat where neither of them say anything. Felicity feels those butterflies stirring to life again as she and Oliver stare at each other.

"Okay," he says finally, his voice rough and growly.

He pulls her to her feet and her stomach does a funny swoop when she ends up with her nose nearly touching his chest. He's suddenly gotten a lot taller than her. When did that happen? She tilts her head up and he looks down at her, thoughts running through his eyes. She's pretty sure he has something else to say and he's debating whether or not to say it.

Her freezing cold hands are still clasped inside his warm ones, tendrils of heat snaking down her fingers and up her arms. Chin tilted back she smiles at Oliver, and smiles back like he's distracted.

"Let's find Tommy and go," she says, moving to walk back inside. "It must be nearly ten."

Oliver doesn't move and since he's still holding her hands she's jerked back to where he's standing with a yelp.

"Oliver!"

He shakes himself out of his daze with a sheepish smile. "Sorry."

He lets go of her hands. Felicity shivers, suddenly cold again. They're walking back to the house when Oliver abruptly stops, pulling her to a stop beside him.

"Look, Felicity," he says, turning her to face him, "I just want you to know that ah- that I think that… I mean, uh-"

Felicity smiles gently. "Wow, usually I'm the one talking in sentence fragments."

Oliver looks puzzled for a moment but then opens his mouth and blurts out, "I-think-you-look-beautiful-tonight-and-Carter's-a-jerk-for-leaving-you-out-here."

Felicity blinks and shakes her head. Did Oliver just say she looked beautiful? He looks supremely uncomfortable, like the words escaped his mouth without his permission.

Opening her mouth to respond, although she really has no clue what to say when your best friend calls you beautiful and your stomach is whooshing and your heart is trying to pound its way out of your chest, she's saved when Tommy's voice echoes over the backyard.

"Ollie! Felicity! Ollie's mom is here, it's time to go," he calls, peering into the darkness for his friends.

Oliver abruptly turns and walks away, leaving Felicity feeling a bit dumbfounded. Things are changing, she thinks, and she doesn't know if she's quite ready to keep up.

But Oliver is almost to the door and she doesn't really want to face all those people without him, so she hurries to catch up and presses herself into his side as they make their way through the party and out the front door without too much hassle. She just barely remembers to grab her discarded book on their way out. Luckily, there's no sign of Carter Bowen.

Tommy looks relieved when they appear. "Finally! Where did you guys disappear to?"

He doesn't seem to know what went on with Carter, thank goodness. Felicity wonders what he's been up to all night. Laurel's nowhere in sight, but maybe they were spending time together.

At least someone had fun tonight, she thinks as they climb into the car.

Parties are definitely not her thing.


End file.
